club roundup

I am a little embarrassed and don't share yarn purchases lately (really, do I need five MORE sweaters worth of yarn?!) but am always compelled to share fiber. Have no idea what that's about... :)


Black Bunny Fibers superwash merino-tencel, 8 oz

Not only do I love Carol's colorways (custom fit for every member) and the honking giant batches her fiber club comes in (8 oz!!), I love that they *don't* come every month. I think I'd just feel just feel drowned :) Not a bad way to go though, eh? Can't get over that color.

Black Bunny Fibers is opening up spots in the club again (actually all clubs-- fiber, sock yarn and yarn), so you can jump on the awesome fiber bandwagon too :)


A Verb for Keeping Warm merino-cashmere-angora-- "Lamb's Ear" (December)

I can't keep up with Kristine's club. I try (I'm actually spinning January's fiber now, wish me luck!) but it doesn't really matter. For as much as I have felt... constrained by having too much fiber stash, I don't worry about stashing aVfKW. I don't know why, doesn't make sense... but there you go :)

For one I *have* been keeping up with (or, actively trying!)... the latest Rhyme Times fiber sampler from The Bellwether.


Rhyme Times sampler #7 (I think?)

I've kept to spindle spinning the 1/2 oz samples up and plying them on my wheel-- good practice. I've amassed a few more since last time.


11 1/2 oz skeins (individual pics and colorway names available here on my flickr)

I really love the blended creations by Three Bags Full and Crosspatch Creations-- every colorway isn't necessarily "me," but 1/2 oz isn't that big of a deal to get thru and I'm often surprised about liking one more spun up than in fiber form (and the other way around). I found my newest favorite colorway thru the club--


"Aurora Borealis" by Three Bags Full

Merino and bamboo dyed deep, DEEP blues and carded with lime colored silk noil. I don't really ever embrace blues but wow-- spun up it is just shockingly beautiful. Aside from the discounts sent in every package (I'll have to show you what I got next time!!) another great thing about the club is knowing about the colors before they go live on the site... I think Aurora may already be sold out.

Off to go play with this month's aVfKW fiber club shipment-- can't keep my hands out of it :) For those of you local (bay area), there's another spinning meetup at Knit One One (BARTable) this Friday between 7-9pm. We split the cost of renting the space (usu. $5-6/pp), and there's plenty of space for wheels or whatever. Fun times! :)

the trouble with spindles

they seem to make the stash explode :)


rhyme times sampler skeins spun up, each approx 1/2 oz
most spun on spindle, plied on the wheel

I love these. The small amount of fiber means I'm finishing each up pretty quickly and that feels like such an *accomplishment* to me just starting out spindling. I'm plying the singles on my wheel, so it's not like I'm totally ignoring him :) I've even got a project in mind, but we'll see. My mind's been changing about everything, even my own handspun (I've listed a few handspun yarns for sale in my etsy shop, from lace to super bulky)... but it feels good to go in new directions.

I've been taking a spindle instead of my knitting when walking... it's a thrill to walk and spin at the same time :) My favorite skein up there is one where I even spun a few short bits in the passenger seat of a parked car... nuts. Actually I like them all, I have 8 oz of the crazy green/black ("shadow grove") on the far right in my fiber stash already and am thinking of buying more for a larger project-- the idea of a handspun vest is really appealing lately.

No doubt that idea has sprung from a recent hair of mine I've had for a week or so-- going thru all of my old Interweave Knits and Vogue Knitting magazines.


messy corner of my little messy island
clickthru for boring notes

I've bought every issue of IK and VK every since I took up knitting after my son was born (and bought a few back issues via ebay... still looking for IK Fall 2004 if anyone wants to find theirs a new home!) I didn't really buy them with a purpose, the first mag I bought was a Vogue Knitting and the only thing I liked about it was an Adrienne Vitadinni ad. I kept on and keep on buying them since I know what I'm interested in changes-- as I'm closing in on finishing Wisteria (only half a sleeve left to spin/knit now) I'm thinking about knitting another sweater and had no idea where to start. My magazines were right there, so I started going thru each and adding my favorite patterns to my ravelry favorites page-- tagging each with type (cardi, pullover, baby etc.), gauge over 4" (23, 18, etc.) and needle size (truncating down to us8, us10 etc-- rav only has one word tags now). I even added a "handspun" tag for patterns that seemed to lend themselves especially well to spinning for-- mostly vests and shruggy things that wouldn't take a ton of yardage but not be a scarf.

The tagging is not exact, but after adding only 4 years worth of magazine patterns and seeing my favorites page expand from 2 to ten pages, I knew I'd have to be able to sort thru them somehow. I've decided to go thru all (!!) of my knitting books and do the same, and fully expect that my favorites page will soon become unwieldly.

But full of goodness! :) Already found a few that sing to me and I never knew they were there... and bonus! Tucked away inside one magazine was a pattern I forgot I'd picked up at Article Pract *ages* ago...


Devilbot 0110101 by Killer Banshee
bought back when my son liked to write on everything :)

I think I'm going to take some of the armloads of Wool Ease Chunky Tika swapped with me for and make a big one for the boy.

Now to find some more time among the books and spindles... :)

spinning fiber clubs and a sale

I think I need to shy away from sweeping statements here on the blog like "I don't join fiber clubs" or "I'm not interested in spindle spinning"... cos really, it just comes back to bite me in the end. (Not that end, but thanks :))


A Verb for Keeping Warm 50/50 baby camel-silk, 3 oz-- "Maharani's Delight"
1st installment of aVfKW ultra fiber club

I know, as much as I go on and on about A Verb for Keeping Warm maybe it's to be expected that I'd go head over heels when Kristine announced her version of a fiber club on her blog and ravelry group... very very glad I did. The club's closed for enrollments now, but I'm guessing will reopen for the Winter shipments in December (best to check in with the aVfKW ravelry group for updates on that.)


(check out the beautiful handmade label!)

As excited as I am about this first shipment (baby camel! silk! naturally dyed!!)... I'm more excited about the news that Kristine and Adrienne shared at the open studio/anniversary party a few weeks back. A Verb for Keeping Warm is opening a retail store next to their dyestudio in Berkeley. This...



...will look like this (inside the original aVfKW dyestudio at the anniversary party):




(a few more pics of the party and space here)

Dude.

Kristine also remarked that she'd like to not only have this as a retail space, but become the "coldstone creamery" of fiber for the bay area... renting out her drumcarder by the hour, hosting classes* on fiber prep and such in addition to the retail space. All still up in the air and to come, they're still building out the space, but how rad is that? Not only living out a dream, but that it's a fiber dream from a local dreamer?

:)

And of course, more on the dream theme...


Border Leicester x Romney roving, dyed by Black Bunny Fibers for BBF Fiber Club
approx 5 oz, "plum treat"

Yall know the fleece kick I'm on lately... how timely is it that Carol's last club shipment was from a Border Leicester/Romney cross fleece that she purchased and had prepped into roving, *then* dyed individually for members of her fiber club? I couldn't help but spin it up right away...



I had just been browsing the Knitter's Book of Yarn and thought the chunky winter set (hat and mitts in a bulky thick/thin yarn) would be perfect for this fiber... spinning it into a single would help me keep the long color stretches and would look really nice across the small circumference of a hat and mittens.

It was really soft, that longwool luster soft and I was really afraid of ruining it by overspinning (I'm a treadling leadfoot!), so I put on the hugetastic "extra slow" whorl on the matchless (4:1 and 4.5:1) and spun very slowly...



You can't even see the back of the wheel, the whorl being so big :) It worked though-- just enough twist to hold the fibers together, squishy and not wiry. I fulled the yarn a bit when setting the twist, a little fuzz that filled the yarn's low twist out even more. Not quite cold enough to knit up yet, but the beautiful purples and blues are just awesome to admire.

And to bring it about full circle-- I actually spun up another sample of the Rhyme Times fiber sampler (The Bellwether's fiber sampler club).


Rainbow Roving by Crosspatch Creations, "Copper King" 8A
singles spindle spun, plied on a wheel
twist not set, will be fulled/shocked

It wouldn't be interesting news except for what I spun it on.


Forrester Dervish spindle 44.5g/1.57oz
rock maple (upper), purpleheart (lower), maple shaft

Amelia's been out of stock on her Dervish spindles for a while, so when she posted on Ravelry about sneaking some up onto her site, I immediately asked for pics of one I thought I'd want. Amelia sent me pics of several and this one jumped out at me (surprisingly not the one I asked about!)... still, I waited, being a big purchase for a little spindler like me. It haunted me for like a week and finally I decided to buy it for myself for my birthday**-- if not me then who? :)



It is a really fun looking spindle and keeps going, even though like I said, I'm new at this :) I took it with me to the first (of hopefully many!) spinning meetups at Knit One One in Berkeley last week-- if you're interested in getting together monthly to spin at k11 with some locals (everyone's welcome!), keep an eye on this thread in the Bay Area Spinners group on Ravelry. I had a blast-- I don't really like travelling w/ a wheel, but the spindle is freeing.

One more shot, since I can't help myself...



I've been taking it with me to the playground so as my son plays, I stand and spin... cast weird shadows standing on top of the jungle gym.



Til then and soon, can't stand being away. :)


* In the Bay Area? Color: A Fiber Festival is going to be on October 18 (Saturday). Lots of classes, vendors, and fun :) The venue is gorgeous and I had a great time last time taking classes, meeting people and just enjoying not being my normal hermit self. Mark your calendar, sign up for classes, join the Color ravelry group! Not just for spinners, either :)

** I am turning a year older in 2 weeks! In the theme of if not me then who, I'm celebrating with free shipping on all stitch markers (freshwater pearl and semiprecious stone) thru October 20th in my etsy shop :) As always, international shipping's on me as well-- and I've got lots more markers to photograph and upload so please check back throughout :)

easing in

Long time no nothing! :) Feels weird, trying to get back into writing about what's going on fiberwise when there's that stretch of time between... my little hater says I need something more stunning than a not even half finished sweater after coming back from so many days of silence but here goes nothing :)


Wisteria in handspun Corriedale

I started with 2 skeins of handspun corrie and have been spinning as I complete parts of the sweater... the spinning actually has been going very quickly-- it's the combing that is taking the time. This is the corriedale I have been combing out on my Craftsmiths, I'd guess the sweater has about 650 yd and 10 oz in it-- the bag is still pretty full :)

I was excited when I saw Wisteria, the cabling is just enough detail for me, and since the corrie was 2.6# washed and I lose quite a bit to combing in waste, I wanted a sweater that wouldn't eat yarn and still fit (I'm knitting the 47" inch size!) I also liked the way the sample looked with the slight variegation in color-- Umpqua was a variegated fleece, and try as I might I wasn't going to get a consistent color without lots of combing and blending pre-spinning (mixing different slivers together to even out the color)... I know I should probably have waited and spun each skein at the same time, but I just don't have the patience :)


love the taupe hints in the grey from her oddly colored fleece

I have been using my spinner's control wpi card from vip fibers to help... I'm pretty happy with the result when spotchecking the wpi of the singles and plied yarns, I haven't had any weird variation in gauge. I'm also spinning this up in a 'true worsted' style, inchworm from the handcombed sliver, and though I prefer the freewheeling of Spinning for Softness and Speed, the prep and the method of spinning is giving me a really consistent yarn.

As much as I love the grey, I needed a little color break so I started spinning the 1/2 oz samples from the latest Rhyme Times Sampler from The Bellwether.


spun samples unfulled-- they'll be super plush when set

You know I love this club, but I've never actually spun the samples before! Sure, they'd arrive and I'd be all !!! and pet them as they sat on my desk while I ordered a few bags of my favorites before they were for sale to the public (at a discount!)... but after a while I'd just stash them in the fiber closet and not look at them again. I think I'm going to start spinning each sample up and maybe knit them together into a lap blanket or something.

The Crosspatch Creations and Three Bags Full fibers are always a fun spin, texture and once shocked and set give a really soft, squishy yarn. Maybe a crazy scarf knit longways with tons of fringe? Don't know... but I'm keeping a half ounce sample in my spinning basket all the time-- it's a really nice distraction between larger (even 4 oz!) projects.

What else? I did receive my new camera (yay!) and took a bunch of photos of stitch markers for my etsy shop that had been lingering too long. I also toted it with me to the Asian Art Museum in SF last weekend...


full set here

I don't have a clue what I'm doing-- my sturdy Canon S410 was simple and reliable, but didn't really push me to think about anything other than being steady handed :) I am going to have to read a book on photography in the near future to do my camera justice. Work in progress, same as everything!

Aside from these mishmashes, I've been washing wool with Unicorn Power Scour and hope to have a (longish) post comparing it to my standby favorite blue Dawn rilly soon. Til then, moo!

stockpiling

It feels like a mishmash day today! :)

I finally got around to taking pics of my Rhyme Times fiber samplers-- I know I've said I don't do clubs (except Black Bunny Fibers' fiber club since I'm picky and weird and hers fits my quirks) but I realized this is a club, too :) The Bellwether offers a 4-installment subscription sampler pack of Crosspatch Creations and Three Bags Full fibers, each with four, 1/2 oz samples of new colorways that haven't been offered on site yet. Amelia also offers a double sampler (so, 4 - 1 oz samples of fiber), mine is the 1/2 oz size.



This is 3 installments worth-- every time they arrive I find a new favorite :) Like these...







I had been saving all of these samples to spin into one big artyarn... but now that WonderMike and his spindlepr0n-heavy flickr photostream has got me thinking I want to learn to spin on a spindle (a Golding is calling my name! oy...), I've been saving them up with an eye to spindle spin :)

One reason I don't like clubs is the premium you pay for them; it's a personal thing, but I don't like paying extra for exclusivity. The Rhyme Times is a good deal-- not only is the shipping cost included in the price and the fiber price on par with retail per ounce, every sampler letter comes with a fiber special for subscribers only. You can also order "back issues" of the Rhyme Times samplers if you want, an interesting idea if you want to just try one and see if you like it before committing to an entire cycle. I know once mine runs thru though, I'll resubscribe-- it's like little colorful surprises in the mailbox every two month or so :)

Another surprise...


Handspun 3-ply polwarth, naturally dyed fiber by A Verb for Keeping Warm "blackberry"
Approx 6 oz, 830 yd

It looks just like the roving!

This was my practice run for the aVfKW baby camel-silk I love with in a seaside annabel way... I knew that the camel/silk fiber would spin thinly, but didn't want a lace. So I wanted to try and spin a 3ply, spinning the entire 2 ounce package of roving onto one bobbin x 3 (I love the 2 oz putups Kristine uses). I knew that the matchless bobbins would hold a sloppily packed 4 oz of sock yarn, but 6?

Yup.

I actually like this yarn a lot more than I thought I would-- I'm not a pink girl, but the plying made all the difference.



Secret for the week: I don't ply well. Like, I don't think I do it right at all, and when I'm not absolutely diligent in plying the wrong way I do, singles wrap around one another and just look bumpy and wrong. So much more so when I'm plying 3 singles-- I don't have the control I need over three plies. Now, I'm not condoning bad form (I'll learn proper plying one day!), but using my new diz as a plying guide made the yarn look even better than it would have, given my poor technique. It's over/under-plied (and spun!) in areas, but that's more of a takeup thing. I went ahead and asked GVPencheff to make me another "diz" that I can use for plying (and color blending with larger holes)... more 3-ply in my future :)

Except, spinning and fiber has been put on hold... I got this idea to knit Henry in the new 3-ply, and I am *obsessed.*


Henry from Knitty Fall 2007, short freshwater pearl stitch markers from zero.etsy.com

Good thing too, it takes forf*ing ever and I had this nutty idea I want to enter it in Lambtown's Skeins and Textiles Competition. I don't think I'll make it, but things like reality and time haven't stopped me before :)

One more thing!! I usually don't do memes but since I'll be away for at least a week (my baby sister is back from Europe and coming for a visit!!!)... via Under Dutch Skies, whose blog I dig right back :)

1. What was I doing 10 years ago? 1998? I was 20-- I had just moved from socal to Berkeley to enroll as a junior (tranferred from my local community college, go public school!) eta: Actually it would have been summertime and I'd be starting my senior year-- so I was living in my Very.First.Apartment™ and watching lots of Red Dwarf during my days off from working on campus (public tv was the only thing i'd get on the rabbiteared set.)
   
2. What are 5 things on my to-do list for today? Get all the little things ready for my sister's visit-- clean the shower, finish putting away all the undyed fiber I have amassed but haven't dyed (and left in huge bags all over the bed she'll be sleeping in), scour the cooktop, mop the floor (I have an unnatural love for PineSol), dust.
   
3. Snacks I enjoy? More ingredients than snacks... chocolate. Garlic. Salt. Hot sauce (Crystal from Louisiana.) Frying oil. Mayonnaise.
4. Things I would do if I were a billionaire? Take my kid to Puerto Rico. Grow a set. Make my mom happy. Take the bar til I passed it, just to do it. A few things I can't share :)
5. Places I have lived? Las Vegas, socal, norcal.
   
6. Jobs I have had? Pharmacy technician, photo printer, hotel clerk, law office intern, pseudonymous information jockey, mom.
   
7. People I want to know more about? If you're reading, you! (Really, I'm filling out my rss reader with knitting (and not!) blogs-- you don't have to do the meme, just leave your blog address or Rav name so I can find some new blogs to read in the lulls of my sister's vacation :))
   

Have a good one, miss you!


PS! Cos this isn't long enough already :) the Knitters for BarackObama group on Ravelry is holding a general election fundraiser and is looking for prize donations. I'm donating some superbulky handspun in the Audacity colorway (Black Bunny Fibers' Obama fundraising colorway) as well as a dk-ish weight in the same fiber.



They're only taking prize donation pledges til July 3 (tomorrow!)-- but you don't have to have the prize in hand til August 7... I still need to spin up the lighter weight yarn for my prize pack :)

Between July 4 and August 7, you can buy tickets for specific prizes in the drawing-- better chance of winning what you really want that way. More details (including prizes, though the list isn't up to date yet) can be found here or in the KFO forum.



Early and often!

rhyme times sampler from the bellwether

I really love the spinning blog posts I read that tell a story from fiber to yarn. Most of my spinning lately's been taking from the (burgeoning! I need new storage solutions!!) fiber stash and finishing before I remember to take pics, not spinning something that I've just received and not shown pics of in fiber form yet. This one does though, kinda :)

This week's spinning started with my new subscription to the Rhyme Times.



The Bellwether sells something truly awesome here-- a year long subscription of samples of the new batts and roving in stock from Crosspatch Creations and Three Bags Full. I ordered the "starter issue"-- so I received samples of both the new releases and samples of all of the fibers that have at least a lb in stock... there are a lot of fibers here!! Subscription to the sampler gives you first crack at the new fibers before they're released on the website, and mine also came with special pricing availability for new testing fibers as well.

Along with the lovely sample cards of fibers came a newsletter and written descriptions of the contents of each blend which is awesome-- if you were anyone else I'd be embarrassed to share how much time I took matching each sample up to its written description, waffling between favorites and trying to feel the difference in fibers between my fingers. Having them all written down and in front of me (as opposed to clicking around on a website, or even inspecting bags of fiber in person) is ideal-- you just pay more attention to the contents and different fibers that may not jump out at you on first glance, getting a much closer look the second (third, fourth, fifth...) time around. I'm toying with the idea of spinning them all together into one crazy short striping skein and making something with it... I was thinking a hat but a sampler kerchief may be the way to go. We'll see (I really like my silly kerchief though!!) :)

Amelia also sent samples of her California Red wool roving (not the elusive all-red sheep that is looking like it doesn't exist, but an oatmeal one streaked with red hairs throughout), and a sample of a Crosspatch Creations Signature Blend batt in "eggplant." There was only 4 oz left of the Eggplant in stock, but I rushed to order it loving the deep purples and the shine of silk in that little sample she sent.


(inside and outside of batts)

Lately I've been buying 8 oz of fiber at a time, afraid 4 isn't enough for not-sock projects... but I took the advice written on the bag to "spin thinly to bring out the different colors and silk...



Lace thin probably isn't what they meant, but it works for me :) This is only half of the batts, the other half I'm still spinning. Early on I tried to decide if I wanted to ply this but obviously didn't-- my thinking was that even plied, it still will be a laceweight yarn and I'll have half the yardage, and I don't need a super sturdy yarn for a lace project (and the fact that this doesn't feel like a weak, break apart yarn on its own already). Right now, this skein measures at about 515 yards-- so here's hoping the next and total will be around 1k for a decently sized lace project.



The texture of the batts [made of "wool (Zion, Connie, Jacob and Maurine-- all Corriedale crossbreds from my flock), Tussah silk, Bombyx silk, Viscose, cut Bombyx silk and Tussah silk noil"] means it's a textured yarn as well as a crazily colored one. I love it (seriously!!) but don't know what kind of lace project would be best for something that looks both rustic with its noils and variation in spinning and almost wild jumps of color. Just something to think about since I will want to knit a largeish lace project out of it, someday-- you know, when I get over my fear of yo's :) (Not *that* yoyo tho, she's famous don't you know ;))





I just love that I "know" the sheep that provided its wool for my projects, and it almost seems like I know the women behind Crosspatch Creations and Three Bags Full just by looking at the colors and reading the descriptions of the blends they've come up with (and I get to sample thanks to Amelia and The Bellwether!)

Despite the fact I was "only" able to buy the last 4 oz of the eggplant colorway, I did find 8 oz of some Three Bags Full roving in "flight of the dragonfly" hitching a ride into my fiber stash as well...



My photos don't do it justice... overcast etc etc (though i did manage to accidentally get my feet with the new tsubo vosa shoes in there!), but I knew exactly what I was getting with the Rhyme Times sampler and I am not disappointed-- so beautiful. I'll be sure to take better pics once I start spinning this, you'll agree with me for sure :) Check out the tiny sample yarns that adorn the bags (they're sealed with something more sturdy beneath)-- it's a finely spun sample of the fiber within the bag. So cool... I wouldn't have thought to spin this roving thinly, but it'll definitely be on my mind now after seeing how the samples spun up. And I just like seeing other people's spinning in person, too :)

Off to go work on the remainder of those batts, have a good one! :)


ps! i've finally started to update my zero stitch marker shop with new freshwater pearls and semiprecious stones with more stock to be added every day-- and I also have a few sets of pressed amber nugget markers set aside for those of you who asked me about them prior and have been waiting patiently for me to find them again. i think i've contacted everyone thru etsy about the ambers, if not please convo me so i can save you a set :)